{"id":117805,"date":"2021-04-08T14:57:43","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T06:57:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=117805"},"modified":"2021-04-08T14:57:45","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T06:57:45","slug":"toll-in-sudan-clashes-rises-to-87-dead-darfur-medics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/?p=117805","title":{"rendered":"Toll in Sudan clashes rises to 87 dead: Darfur medics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Sudan\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smoke rises from Abu Zar camp for displaced persons in West Darfur, Sudan, on Tuesday, April 6
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KHARTOUM, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) —\u00a0Five days of fighting in Sudan’s West Darfur region has left at least 87 people dead, medics said, with thousands fleeing the latest outbreak of violence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The committee has recorded a new toll of … a total of 87 dead and 191 injured,” the West Darfur Doctors’ Committee said, after clashes involving gunfire and shelling in El Geneina, state capital of West Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last toll issued late Tuesday by the United Nations had stood at 56.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting between the Massalit and the Arab communities broke out on Saturday, with thousands fleeing the latest outbreak of violence, some escaping into neighbouring Chad, according to the United Nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Geneina residents and the UN have reported days of fighting including gunfire and shelling, with a power station destroyed, an ambulance attacked and a rocket-propelled grenade hitting the key Sultan Tajeldin Hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other hospitals were also damaged in the fighting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Doctors’ Committee said it condemned “in the strongest terms” attacks against hospitals and staff, calling them “barbaric behaviour which cannot be justified under any circumstances”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the latest outbreak between the communities since January, which has forced over 100,000 people to flee their homes, according to the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government on Monday declared a state of emergency and deployed troops to West Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN said it had suspended flights and aid operations to the city, a key hub for humanitarian assistance – a decision the world body said would affect upwards of 700,000 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday, the UN warned that the “inter-communal violence further deteriorates an already dire situation for vulnerable people.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vast Darfur region was ravaged by a civil war that erupted in 2003, leaving around 300,000 people dead and 2.5 million displaced, according to the UN.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It flared when ethnic minority rebels rose up against dictator Omar al-Bashir’s Arab-dominated government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Khartoum responded by unleashing a notorious Arab-dominated militia known as the Janjaweed, recruited from among the region’s nomadic tribes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conflict has subsided over the years, and the latest in a string of peace deals was agreed in October.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after years of conflict, the region is awash with automatic weapons and clashes still erupt, often over land and access to water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Residents long displaced during the worst years of the war are returning to find others have occupied their lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sudan is in the midst of a rocky transition following the toppling of long-time president Omar al-Bashir in April 2019, following mass protests against his rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The transitional government has pushed to build peace with rebel groups in Sudan’s main conflict zones, including Darfur.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court on charges of genocide during the Darfur conflict. — NNN-AGENCIES<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smoke rises from Abu Zar camp for displaced persons in West Darfur, Sudan, on Tuesday, April 6 KHARTOUM, April 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) —\u00a0Five days of fighting in Sudan’s West Darfur region has left at least 87 people dead, medics said, with thousands fleeing the latest outbreak of violence. “The committee has recorded a new toll of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":117807,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[213],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117805"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117805"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117805\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117807"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117805"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117805"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/namnewsnetwork.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117805"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}